Evaluation of maxillary canine index and Inter canine width to establish Sexual Dimorphism among two different populations

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Teeth are most useful tools for identification of victims in living as well as in dead in field of Forensic Odontology. Canines being the most stable in oral cavity because of labio-lingual thickness of crown and root anchorage in alveolar process of jaws, have been reported to survive in mass disasters, hence used when facial recognition is inconclusive. AIM OF THE STUDY:The present pilot study was conducted to evaluate effectiveness of canine in sex determination among two different populations (Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal). MATERIALS AND METHODS:The present study comprises of 40 subjects from Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal population.Evaluation of canine index and labio-lingual dimension of maxillary canine was done to establish gender dimorphism among these populations. RESULT& CONCLUSION:The findings revealed that due to smaller sample size, not much difference was seen incanine index amongboth the groups but labio-lingual dimensions showed variations. However, maxillarycanine index and labio-lingual dimensionscan be effectivein sex determination. KEYWORDS: Canine index, Gender dimorphism, Labio-lingual dimension, Sex determination